Archive | June, 2024

Cozy Mystery Spinoffs: Beyond Paradise and Frankie Drake Mysteries

19 Jun

Beyond Paradise
One of the favorites of library staff and patrons when it comes to cozy mysteries has been Death in Paradise where a variety of fish out of water UK detectives take on the detective inspector position at an imaginary Caribbean Island, Saint Marie. A fan favorite was DI Humphrey Goodman who left the island to be with his fiancée, Martha. Now in the 2023 spinoff, Beyond Paradise, we find out what they have been up to as the couple leave London to start a new life on the Devon coast, where Martha grew up. Humphrey takes up the vacant position of Detective Inspector at Shipton Abbott police station while Martha opens up a café focused on serving local produce and products. Although less tropical, the town still parallels the other series with its charming seaside visuals, in this case filmed in several Cornish towns. The first season is a bingeworthy 6 episodes, clocking in at just over 5 hours. You don’t have to have watched Death in Paradise to enjoy Beyond Paradise, but if you enjoy the show and haven’t watched the original, it is definitely worth checking out. Both shows are available to stream from Kanopy.

Frankie Drake Mysteries
Another popular long running cozy mystery series is Murdoch Mysteries which is set around a 1895 police station in Canada. This series spun off the Frankie Drake Mysteries set in the 1920’s, though in this case older versions of the Murdoch Mystery characters like George Crabtree make guest appearances in the new show rather than having them be a central focus, which instead is on an all female detective agency. Lauren Lee Smith plays the lead character with Chantel Riley as Trudy Clarke, Frankie’s partner and bff. My two favorites though are Rebecca Liddiard as Mary Shaw a morality officer from the Toronto’s police department who often manages to sneak herself into murder cases and Sharron Matthews who plays Flo Chakowitz, a morgue attendant. The series ran for four years (41 episodes). It is a charming mix of mystery, humor and history.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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A Spooky Summer Read: Gallant

12 Jun

Our Hoboken Summer Reading Challenge for all ages runs through August 30; Hoboken resident card holders can track your reading and win prizes! Many readers will say that they will sometimes pick up a spooky read as a way to try and beat the heat or to pick up something a little more unconventional for their summer Beach Read. This along with a gothic, dark academia inspired setting is bound to pique the interest of those who are looking for something different to read for summer.

Written by author V.E. Schwab, Gallant tells the story of Olivia Prior, a girl who has spent most of her life growing up in Merilance School for Girls, with no connection to her parents, save only for her mother’s journal, that seems to only unravel into madness by its end pages. Then she receives an unexpected invitation to come home to Gallant, only to learn quickly that no one was expecting her when she arrives, greeted by family members that include a hostile cousin and the sight of ghouls in the hallways. In her search to uncover secrets, Oliva discovers an entrance way into a place that both is and isn’t Gallant, where the ghouls are solid and a mysterious figure rules over them all. Having always yearned for a place to belong, it’s now a question of whether Olivia will protect the world against the Master of the House or take her place alongside him.

V.E. Schwab’s writing once again captures a beautiful and captivating narrative with her prose, immediately pulling the reader into a dark and gothic world that Olivia inhabits, providing just enough of a dark academia aesthetic within the first few chapters of the book. We instantly feel for Olivia due to how isolated she is within the walls of Merilance, having no friends and having been ostracized by almost everyone in her family, yet she shows her strength as a protagonist by showing us that she will not allow herself to become an easy target. 

Several key things become apparent once she arrives home in Gallant. She must first learn about the secrets within Gallant itself and thus learn more about herself and her abilities, and she must discover the fate of her parents. All of this we learn through Olivia’s journey within the pages of the book and every moment is well captured and leaves the reader wanting to know more. Even if you are unfamiliar with V.E. Schwab and her catalog of work, this is an excellent book to start with, especially if you are looking for something that has a spooky and gothic atmosphere.

For those who are seeking a book to start off their summer reading, Gallant is a fantastic read for anyone who wants something a little more gothic and chilling in their choice of beach reads.

You can also read my review of Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue a colleague’s previous post about A Darker Shade of Magic.

nce she arrives home in Gallant. She must first learn about the secrets within Gallant itself and thus learn more about herself and her abilities, and she must discover the fate of her parents. All of this we learn through Olivia’s journey within the pages of the book and every moment is well captured and leaves the reader wanting to know more. Even if you are unfamiliar with V.E. Schwab and her catalog of work, this is an excellent book to start with, especially if you are looking for something that has a spooky and gothic atmosphere.

Written by:
Lauren Lapinski

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